The Value of Brand Affiliations

The ‘gangs’ we choose to be part of can say a lot about us as a brand.

Laura gives her opinion on partnerships for brands…

As part of my current placement with the North American Division, I’ve been thinking a lot about the potential value of partnerships. With the success of their recent Four Seasons sponsored trip still a hot topic for TCS & Starquest, they’ve certainly gone a long way to proving the potential benefits of a joint sales venture. But I believe the affiliations we create, much like the friends we choose to hang out with, can have a huge impact on how our brands are understood by the audience.

Not wanting to stereotype too much, but imagine for a moment that you meet me sitting on a park bench, surrounded by young people who are all wearing skateboard clothing and carrying skateboards. Now, it’s probably fair to say that you’d assume I too was a skateboarder because I’m hanging out with that ‘crowd’, and you’d probably make assumptions about me because of that. No doubt you’d think I share the same values as the people I’m sat with – I, like them, am probably pretty active and sporty, probably young and probably something of a miscreant at times.

Now imagine you meet me in a coffee shop and I’m surrounded by people in business suits. Again, you’d probably assume that I too am a business person and all of the values you’d associate with business people, you’ll likely associate with me too.

I believe it’s exactly the same for brands. Had TCS & Starquest created a trip sponsored by Red Bull, for example, you’d probably expect that trip to be full of adrenaline sports, extreme activities (and plenty of energy drink!). In their association with Four Seasons, the brand will no doubt inherit some of those associations too; people will view TCS as a luxurious, high quality brand with a focus on customer experience and a willingness to please and to personalise.

Of course, as any person in any group of friends does, every brand brings its own values to the table and, like friendships, the relationships they have must provide space for each brand’s own ‘personality’ too. In the case of TCS & Starquest, they were able to enhance the brand of Four Seasons by reaffirming its luxury status but adding elements of adventure and education from which both brands can now benefit.

And I’d argue that it’s not just in these direct partnerships that we need to consider the impact on our brand. In marketing ourselves, we should always seek to place ourselves in the places that mirror our brand values and never detract from them, but the same applies to where our advert appears and which magazine we’re therefore aligning ourselves with, or even where on the shelf of brochures our own sits and which shops we choose to be sold in. Everything we do is an exercise in branding and by understanding our own ‘friendship group’, we can ensure our brand continues to build.